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Primary education

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Original poster

Yr2: No Teacher Comments in Reading Diary?

13 replies

CaptainFlack · 11/10/2012 11:21

Hello

New to UK schooling (for my DCs at any rate, I was product of UK system!).

Just wondering if there are supposed to be any comments in the reading diary that DS Yr2 brings home? The only entry by anyone other than myself was on Sept 9th when he apparently read to someone. He is a strong reader so perhaps the teacher doesn't feel that it is necessary to hear him read? He is in a phonics group with KS2 pupils I think. He changes his book two or three times a week when I remind him, I don't think anyone is checking.

Also, he has a topic for this term but hasn't done anything on it as far as I can see...they have two home learning projects due at the end of the month (great that is homework for me LOL!) but doesn't bring anything else home like spellings.

Maybe this all sounds pretty standard for Yr2 or should I have a little chat with his teacher?

Thanks! MN is my go-to for everything these days!

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littlemiss06 · 11/10/2012 11:23

At our school the reading record is for just us to comment in, teachers do their reading in school with guided reading sessions and have their own records

redskyatnight · 11/10/2012 11:41

Depends on the school I think. DD's school record reading done at school in their "kept in school" records. (which are still available for parents to see if you ask).

learnandsay · 11/10/2012 12:16

I'd ask the teacher next time you see her. I suppose they are supposed to comment in the diary at your school if someone already has, (albeit only once.) I think your real question is: is my school supposed to comment more frequently?

If your son reads well already what are you expecting them to say that's helpful? Are you not already familiar with your son's reading ability? We've only just started Reception and some of the comments I'm getting are clearly true of her school reading but not true of her home reading. I guess that's one thing you can notice from other people's comments. (But to be honest I'm not finding the reading diary very helpful. Maybe that'll change over time. But I'm not holding my breath. I'm beginning to suspect that its real use is to be used as a reading guide to the child by teachers at school, possibly teachers who aren't yet familiar with the child. And probably as an indicator of how much parental reading support is going on.)

Fuzzymum1 · 11/10/2012 12:24

My Y1 Ds's teacher makes a comment in his book after each guided reading session - a note of which book they've been reading and a comment about what they were concentrating on and how well he did. He only reads the books that come home with us so no other comments are made in it other than by us.

PastSellByDate · 11/10/2012 13:01

Hi CaptainFlack:

Sorry to say that it is pretty normal not to receive comment.

My advice is struggle on regardless. In Y2 with both DDs as they got better at writing I started to encourage them to write about what they were reading. DD2 strongly disliked one book (pretty awful people who were mean to each other) so I told her to write about that.

Have your DS draw pictures of his favourite character & label them. Write the definitions for new words he encounters. Write about a character's feelings or an alternative ending. Try thinking of 5 alternative words for a word - so instead of running or walking, what else could you say?

The reading diary can be whatever you want to make it. And you don't have to wait on a teacher for ideas.

It can be very disappointing not to get any feedback (stickers or ticks pleased my DDs in KS1 but as they've progressed - now Y3/ Y5 - they are less impressed). However, teachers are busy.

If it really concerns you raise it with the teacher, gently, and see what they have to say - it may be that a lot of verbal feedback is given in class, which you don't see at home. Toward the end of the year you can respond to parent feedback questionnaires by saying you are concerned about the poor quality of teacher feedback on your DS's homework.

heggiehog · 11/10/2012 20:03

Hello, I am a teacher.

I don't have time to comment in home reading diaries but I do a guided reading session with every child each week as well as reading 1-to-1 with as many children as possible (we keep a list of who we have read with).

If you have any concerns you should speak to the teacher. It depends very much on the set-up of the school but in ours we simply don't have time for those comments, though I desperately wish we did as I think home/school communication is important!

simpson · 11/10/2012 21:09

DS now yr3 did not get one comment in his reading diary for the whole of yr2....

But in yr3 his TA seems to be writing in it each week ( so far) and giving me an idea of what he needs to work on...

shattereddreams · 12/10/2012 07:01

Dd school don't comment either.
I even got asked to stop making such long comments (2-3 sentences) because it was using up the book and the book had to go into Y1.
But I didn't think much of that teacher anyway!
This year Y1 has a supply teacher covering maternity who clearly doesn't give a crap because dd doesn't even bring home books on a consistent set of levels.
The book will be kept by me as a reference of how she progressed and then I can compare Ds in a few years.
Seems quite useful in that respect.

heggiehog · 12/10/2012 17:54

"This year Y1 has a supply teacher covering maternity who clearly doesn't give a crap"

That's not a fair comment. If she's a supply teacher then she may not be allowed to have a say in which books go home with which child. Sounds ridiculous but I have seen it before. It depends on how incompetent the management are and what they allow supply/temporary members of staff to do.

mrz · 12/10/2012 18:02

I've got a student (TA) on placement and discovered she has been changing reading books (without asking) and letting the children choose whatever level takes their fancy.
She also talks over me and does a nice line in hairdressing when my class are sitting on the carpet. [grrr]

TodaysAGoodDay · 12/10/2012 18:03

At our Primary, anyone who hears the child read needs to leave a comment, even if it's just 'read through' or 'read well' or 'new book given', although very often the comments are more in-depth and helpful. The reading record book is used as quite an effective communication device here, I wish it was at all schools.

Inneedofbrandy · 12/10/2012 18:07

Teacher doesn't comment in my dd reading Yr2 as well. The school does have reading rangers which read with all children at least 3 times a week and this gets recorded. The teacher does do group reading and I think she's fab.

I would like there to be spellings to take home and learn though, not sure how to go about teaching dd spellings.

Original poster

CaptainFlack · 15/10/2012 16:35

Thanks everyone. Feel better now. I know that there are other parents who are concerned about the reading situation in the class, there are parents' meetings this week, so we can all find out what the picture is then. The school is new (year old) and still seems to have some teething troubles here and there.

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